The Wrong Choice Discontinued
by FacingEast
Summary: [ DISCONTINUED ] What if Leafpool decided to go all the way in breaking the rules and chose to still take a mate? But this time, instead of just choosing between Crowfeather and the Warrior Code, she moves on over him and has to choose between Hawkfrost and her Clan. And choosing Hawkfrost will leave a darker mark than if she had stayed with Crowfeather.
1. Chapter 1

**Discontinued because after rereading Sunrise, I realize making Leafpool choose a mate over being a medicine cat is completely out of character, because one of the significant things about her is that she follows her heart, so I'm not likely to continue this. :/**

It was a cool day in leaf-fall, a cold breeze sending the leaves skittering through the forest floor. The tree branches, stripped of their fall grandeur, rattled in the wind like bones.

Leafpool fluffed out her fur and shivered. It was too cold to be gathering herbs, but her Clan needed it to be able to recover from the devastating badger attack. Still, she hated being alone out in the forest.

She hated being alone, period. Alone was when no cat was there to take her mind off of the shame of running away with another cat, alone meant the overwhelming guilt of not being there for her mentor Cinderpelt when she died.

Leafpool finally focused on where she was going and found that she had strayed by the WindClan border on accident. Guilty for wanting to see Crowfeather again, yet at the same time scared if she would, she simply stared at the stream. It tumbled by, glittering in the sunlight and free of responsibility.

She sat down and curled her tail neatly over her white paws. The herbs could wait. ThunderClan could wait. She gave up a chance to see what love was like so she could fulfill her duty, it wouldn't hurt them to let her take a moment to miss what she could've had.

A wave of embarrassment suddenly made her ears burn. It wasn't like her to think like this. She _wanted_ to serve her Clan. It was where she belonged, not abandoning her Clan for a WindClan cat like some moon struck rabbit.

"Leafpool?"

Leafpool's head snapped up.

A dark gray cat, lithe and silent, appeared out of the brush across the stream. He gazed at her, his eyes burning with some sort of powerful emotion Leafpool couldn't name.

"Crowfeather!" She hissed. "What are you…we can't! We decided not to," She said, her voice. Her voice, rising hysterically, broke at the end.

"I know." He flicked his ears and stared down at his paws. Then his head flicked up. "Leafpool…It's not too late," He pleaded.

Before she could stop him, Crowfeather waded across the stream. He stepped onto the ThunderClan border, shining drops of dew glistening on his pelt. "Tell me the truth, Leafpool. Do you still love me?"

His eyes burned into hers, a blazing challenge.

Leafpool felt her heart start to thrum faster in spite of herself. _Yes, yes, I do! But look where that led us._ She dug her claws into the ground and stared at him helplessly, not knowing what to say. _It's not fair. Why can my sister have Brambleclaw, yet I can never love a cat?_

Crowfeather read the answer in her eyes, and his own glowed with triumph. "I knew it!" He stepped forward, shattering the thin wall between them, and pressed his muzzle against Leafpool's.

She closed her eyes, wondering if she should have said no.

"I'll meet you in three days, at night," Crowfeather told her. "Please- come!" With that, he darted away from her and back across the stream, disappearing into the tall grass.

_What have I done? _Regardless_, _Leafpool turned back to the forest, tail tucked low in guilt and heart thrumming in shameless anticipation.

**Sorry for the chapter being so short, I wrote it on the spot and it's really late, the other chapters will be longer.**


	2. Chapter 2

Leafpool padded back to camp slowly, tail dragging in the dirt. What she had just agreed to was _wrong. _It didn't work out the first time, so why would meeting again in secret do any good? She remembered the blaze of fierce happiness in his eyes and cringed at the thought of letting him down.

Leafpool slinked back into camp with her head down, remembering she forgot to wash off Crowfeather's scent on her fur. Hoping no one would see her she ducked into the medicine cat's den and rolled in several of the old herbs in order to dispel the scent.

A ginger and white cat poked her head into the den. "You're back! I wanted to ask…" She stopped and stared at Leafpool. "Er, what are you doing?"

Embarrassed, Leafpool leaped back up to her paws. "Never mind about that. You were saying?"

Brightheart gave her an odd look before continuing. "Birchpaw's eye seems to have caught infection, I'm not sure what to treat it with."

There was an awkward silence as Leafpool tried to remember what herbs to prescribe. With a painful stab she realized Cinderpelt would never be there to correct her mistakes if she gave a cat the wrong thing. Finally remembering the right herbs, she scooped the right ones together and pushed them toward Brightheart. "Chew this up and apply them over his eye," She mewed in what she hoped sounded like a confident voice.

"Okay." Brightheart flicked her ear and scooped up the herbs in her mouth, glancing back at Leafpool before padding out the den.

Leafpool lashed her tail, furious with herself. She was a failure as a medicine cat. _Maybe if I took an apprentice and trained her into the medicine cat, then I could become a warrior, _She thought hopefully. The thought of fighting and hunting had little appeal for her, but if she was a warrior, she could have a mate…

She quickly chased the thought of her head. How could she even think that? She loved being a medicine cat. But she also wanted to know what falling in love was like, too.

Her belly growled with hunger, interrupting her thoughts. When she padded out from her den to the fresh kill pile she spied out of the corner of her eye a dark brown tabby slipping out of the camp. He glanced back once, as if to make sure no one saw him, then disappeared into the underbrush. _Brambleclaw?_ _Where's _he_ going?_ Curious about the tom's low profile behavior, she veered away from the fresh kill pile and followed him.

_I probably shouldn't be doing this, _She told herself. _But then again, I've been doing a lot of things I shouldn't have. _

Brambleclaw was hard to track – his paw steps were silent, and he could only barely trace his scent as it winded through the trees. His trail abruptly stopped by the lake, just at the border between the trees and the pebbly shore. Leafpool could hear hushed voices not far away. She crept toward them and caught the sight of a dark tabby tail, flicking lazily. She ducked under a bush and hoped they didn't see her.

"…horse place cat," One voice was saying. It was low and sleek – not Brambleclaw's. It sounded familiar, but she couldn't place it. "She'll never be any good, but her kits could be strong warriors. Take one of them as an apprentice and you'll be set for deputy."

"That's true," The other cat mused. It was Brambleclaw. "You haven't had an apprentice yet either, have you, Hawkfrost?"

Hawkfrost. The name sent ice prickling down Leafpool's back. What was he doing on ThunderClan territory? Just as she was about to jump out and confront the two half-brothers, she caught herself. A sudden chill gripped her when she realized she wasn't even sure Brambleclaw would defend her if Hawkfrost chose to silence her from repeating their meeting.

"No, but one of the queens' litters are almost ready. It's just that Stormfur…when Leopardstar dies Mistyfoot will never appoint me as long as he's around!" The gray tom's name ripped out from Hawkfrost with a vicious snarl.

She waited to hear Brambleclaw's response. There was an uncomfortable pause, and Leafpool wondered what he could be thinking. Would he defend his friend?

"What are you going to do?" Brambleclaw finally asked.

"We'll see…We've been devising a plan," Hawkfrost replied evenly. His tone was calmer now, like the still surface of a lake – yet Leafpool could sense the darker tone lurking beneath it. _Who's we? _Leafpool wondered.

"I have to go," Brambleclaw said. "But you can tell me the plan tonight."

"Very well."

Leafpool heard the crunching of leaves as one of the toms – Brambleclaw – passed her bush, brushing it with his pelt as he walked by. Once the sound of his paw steps had faded she left out a sigh of relief. _Thank goodness, my legs are cramped. I can't wait to get out from this thing. _She squeezed out from under the bush, only to see herself facing a large dark tom.

"Hawkfrost," She gasped.

The tabby RiverClan cat had been sitting only a few paces away from the bush as if he had patiently been waiting for her to come out. His face was expressionless. "I thought I smelled some cat," He said calmly.

Leafpool could only stare at him in terror as she remembered Squirrelflight's deep distrust for him, not to mention the strange conversation he had just had that sounded far from well meaning.

"Did you hear the whole thing?" He asked.

Leafpool eyed him. "No," She finally answered, deciding to play it safe. "I- I just came as Brambleclaw left. Looking for herbs, you know." She almost winced. Even _she_ could hear through the thinly disguised lie.

"You're lying." The words were accusing, but Hawkfrost's tone seemed light and nonconfrontational enough, almost as if they were having a casual conversation.

He got to his paws and gazed at her. His eyes were cool and unreadable. "I know you heard more then you're letting on."

Leafpool didn't say anything, though this time out of defiance and not because she was too stricken with fright. She met his level stare and narrowed her eyes, wondering at her own audacity.

To her surprise, he suddenly shrugged. "You're an interesting cat, Leafpool." But the words weren't critical at all – in fact, they were neutral, almost playful. "I'll see you around." He strolled past her, brushing her pelt with his, and melted into the dark shadows.

Leafpool stayed still and tried to process what had just happened, trying to ignore the strange heat spreading through her fur from where he had just touched her.

**Please feel free to review and tell me what you think so far :) open to all critique!**


End file.
